Salesforce picks up more office space at One Market

The company is snapping up all available office space in One Market St., including several entire lower floors, according to several brokers familiar with the company's dealings.

Meanwhile the company has looked into the Presidio and elsewhere, and is reportedly in the market for as much as 150,000 square feet. Salesforce's headcount grew from 767 to 1,304 during 2005 and expanded by 188 employees in the last quarter, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Salesforce spokesman Bruce Francis would not comment on the leasing activity, or what percentage of Salesforce employees are in San Francisco, but he said it represents the vast majority of the company's workforce.

"We're a fast-growing company and we love San Francisco," said Francis. "We're going to make sure we keep up with the needs of our growing employee base."

Palo Alto bound

Vacancies in Silicon Valley are still double the national average (nearly 23 percent), but that isn't stopping Bay Area real estate companies from betting on the volatile boom-and-bust region. This week both CB Richard Ellis and Trammell Crow Co. announced the opening of new Palo Alto shops. TCC has signed a five-year lease at 1801 Page Mill Road in Palo Alto, an office to be headed up by Rich Branning and Steve Levere. "With Silicon Valley making a comeback, we're positioning ourselves to rapidly grow our portfolio and expand our tenant representation services in the region," said Levere.

CB Richard Ellis, meanwhile, is opening a new commercial office in Palo Alto at Tower Two, Palo Alto Square. The approximately 6,500-square-foot new office will start with six brokers and is expected to grow to 16 within a year. The establishment of the Palo Alto office expands the company's Bay Area footprint, which covers San Francisco, the Peninsula, Oakland, San Jose, and Pleasanton. The brokerage is no stranger to Palo Alto: Colbert Coldwell, the "C" in CB Richard Ellis, was Stanford University's real estate consultant and played a key role in developing the Stanford Shopping Center in 1956.

Case closed

A little more than a year after the international law firm White & Case finished building out the 24th floor of Four Embarcadero Center, the firm said it plans to close the 22-lawyer San Francisco office at the end of June. With nine years left on its lease, the firm is relocating workers to its Palo Alto office. In addition to the entire 24th floor of Four Embarcadero Center, the firm leases part of the 25th floor. The firm's Palo Alto office, which focuses on technology, opened in 1999 and saw its headcount almost double last year.

Spacing out

Rapt Inc. has renewed its lease at 625 Second St., and will increase its space to a total of 24,250 square feet of office space. The rent was reported in the "mid- to high teens," according to brokers familiar with the deal. Studley's Stephen Chaitin and Michael Pitre represented Rapt in the transaction, the second deal the brokerage has handled for the software applications provider.

A final hurdle

One Rincon Hill is good to go. The 700-unit two-tower development has received its official site permit from the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection, allowing the development to begin on schedule, a rarity in San Francisco. The building is slated for completion in 2007. "We are pleased that we received our approvals and continue on track with our construction schedule," said Michael Kriozere, general partner at Urban West Associates.

Moving to town

The California office of the Waggener Edstrom Worldwide has pulled up stakes in San Bruno and is moving into 185 Berry St., across from AT&T Park. In a note on the move, General Manager Debra Raine said, "It wasn't always clear why (the company) office was located in San Bruno ... but we're sure it's as clear as day why we're moving to our new home on the Embarcadero." The company is taking 2,400 square feet of space on the fifth floor and expects to grow from 12 to 19 employees over the next year, according to office manager Veronica Mau.

Work with lemons

CB Richard Ellis Senior VP Meade Boutwell has been elected to the board of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Boutwell, who survived Hodgkin's lymphoma more than 10 years ago, has raised more than $60,000 for the organization. Meade's son, 8-year-old Griffin, contributed to the family effort by donating his profits from a lemonade stand.